Expansion of the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) at NIST

位于NIST中子研究中心(NCNR)的NSF/NIST高分辨率散射中心(CHRNS)运行和开发最先进的中子散射仪器，供一般科学界使用。在过去的十年里，对CHRNS仪器的研究在聚合物科学、胶体化学、生物学、多孔材料以及磁性和超导等领域对美国的科学和工业产生了重大影响。目前，每年有250多名科学家、博士后研究员和研究生使用CHRNS仪器。这项由国家设施和仪器计划授予的奖项支持了NIST高分辨率中子散射中心的扩建和相关业务。NCNR最近委托使用了三台冷中子谱仪：一台自旋回波谱仪、一台后向散射谱仪和一台圆盘斩波式飞行时间谱仪，这些仪器现在都被纳入了CHRNS。这些新仪器将美国使用中子散射探测的时间范围延长了三个数量级以上，使科学家能够探测动态过程，从10-7秒增加到10-13秒。这为在美国创建一个全新的中子光谱学领域提供了机会，其应用范围广泛，例如，聚合物、胶束、生物材料、离子导体和燃料电池材料、新的定制催化剂、膜和分子筛以及各种磁性现象。这项合作协议为科学界提供了更多使用这些光谱仪的机会。使用这些设施的建议由项目咨询委员会以NSF批准的方式进行同行审查和分配测量时间。除了这三个新仪器外，该项目还在复杂的样本环境和改进的数据采集、简化和分析软件领域加强了用户支持。此外，预计美国创造的第一个世界级冷中子能谱能力将对研究生研究和教育产生相当大的影响。正如CHRNS仪器现在每年欢迎150多名研究生和博士后研究人员一样，该项目允许更多的人访问CHRNS，以便进行高分辨率冷中子散射方法的培训和研究，从而为未来培养一大批知情的年轻用户。

The NSF/NIST Center for High Resolution Scattering (CHRNS) at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) operates and develops state-of-the-art neutron scattering instrumentation for use by the general scientific community. Over the past decade, research carried out on the CHRNS instruments has had a major impact on U.S. science and industry in fields as diverse as polymer science, colloid chemistry, biology, porous materials, and magnetism and superconductivity. More than 250 scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students currently use the CHRNS instruments each year. This award from the National Facilities and Instrumentation program supports the expansion and associated operations of the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering at NIST. The NCNR has recently commissioned three cold neutron spectrometers: a spin echo spectrometer, a backscattering spectrometer, and a disk chopper time-of-flight spectrometer that are now incorporated into CHRNS. These new instruments extend the time scale that can be probed using neutron scattering in the U.S. by more than three orders of magnitude allowing scientists to probe dynamic processes from 10-7 to 10-13 seconds. This provides an opportunity to create an entirely new subfield of neutron spectroscopy in America with applications ranging from, for example, polymers, micelles, biomaterials, ionic conductors and fuel cell materials, new tailored catalysts, membranes and molecular sieves as well as a wide variety of magnetic phenomena. This cooperative agreement provides the scientific community with increased access to these spectrometers. Proposals for the use of these facilities are peer reviewed and allocated measurement time by a Program Advisory Committee in a manner approved by the NSF. In addition to the three new instruments, this project enhances user support in the areas of complex sample environments and improved data acquisition, reduction, and analysis software. Moreover, it is anticipated that the creation of the first world-class capabilities for cold neutron spectroscopy in the U.S. will have considerable impact on graduate research and education. Just as the CHRNS instruments now welcome over 150 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers each year, this project allows many more to visit CHRNS in order to pursue training and research in high resolution cold neutron scattering methods thereby producing a large contingent of informed young users for the future.